The Ties That Bind Us
by Tremalkinger
Summary: Four and a half years after the destruction of the HiME Star, the surviving HiME try to carry on their normal lives, but fate rears its ugly head once again. A continuation of 'Shades of Gray'. NaoNatsu
1. Newfound Losses

Author's Note: This story is a sequel to another story in these archives of mine entitled _Shades of Gray_. I don't advise reading this story without having read its predecessor, unless you enjoy being really confused. You can find the link to Shades in my profile.

This story takes place four years after the end of Shades, which means four and a half years after the end of Mai HiME. Natsuki and Nao have both graduated from Fuuka Gakuen, as have all but the youngest cast members. So while some things will be the same, many things will be different.

And before we begin, I leave you with a warning. There are gratuitous amounts of plot ahead, so continue reading at your own risk.

-----

A thin faced man pushed his tiny set of glasses further up the bridge of his nose. His brow furrowed, showing a rare emotion upon his face. His eyes scanned down the simple piece of white paper delivered some short time ago, hoping to divine some sort of deeper meaning out of the neat boldface print.

**Time until Crystal Fragmentation: Five days, two hours and thirty seven minutes. **

The freshly printed ink was impassive, refusing to impart to him any hidden wisdom. He drummed his fingers upon the oaken surface of his desk. Where others could only see worry and danger, John Smith only heard the siren call of opportunity. That was how he had gotten to where he was: by always finding a way to convert the worst of situation into beneficial ones, no matter how impossible it seemed. With a resigned air of finality, he picked up the small black phone on his desk. There was _always _a way.

-----

Himeno Fumi made her way down the long hedge, absently tracing her fingers along the well kept bushes which lined the walkway. Some months ago, the pristine buds covering the plants had bloomed, exposing their precious petals to the life-giving sun. The field of beauty had stretched beyond the hedgeline into the distance, all the way out to the coast, an unending field of blossoms that all shared hue of her hair. She had asked once Mashiro-sama why she had ordered the planting of the massive pink garden. Her wheelchair bound mistress had only given her a demure smile, and left the answer up to the imagination. Though she never would let herself to voice the thought, in the deepest corners of Fumi's mind, she allowed herself the arrogance to pretend Mashiro-sama had planted them for her.

This past April, like every April, the sight of them had been breathtaking; their fragrance a deliciously sweet delight. But as time winded its inevitable course, the flowers had wilted and spilled their delicate petals upon the walkway, just as they did every year. She ordered the groundskeepers to sweep the petals away as they fell, saving them from the fate of being ground into a thin organic paste under the collective churning heels of hundreds of high school students. They were Mashiro-sama's favorite flowers after all... they deserved that much at least.

Now it was late July... approaching the August break, and the students were getting restless. The schoolday had ended, so without any meetings or other responsibilities left for the day, she had let her feet carry her back to her residence. _The Director's Mansion._ That's what the students called the building, and what she called it as well, but the identical names carried two different meanings. To those enrolled in Fuuka, Fumi was the Director who presided over their school, and awarded scholarships to entice students with exceptional skills in music, arts and the sciences to come to the prodigious Fuuka Academy. They considered this house to be hers. But to her, this house would forever belong to the wispy purple-haired girl to whom she had been her master, servant and lover.

"I'm home." she voiced into the empty darkness. It felt lonely, but that was a sensation she had grown accustomed to in the last four and a half years. She and Mashiro-sama had always known that their time together would come to an end, and Fumi had tried her best to prepare herself emotionally for it. Her companion had done her best to make sure she was ready to assume the mantle of leadership as well. The transition had been a smooth one, and her tenure as Director of the Academy had been graced with relative peace. Faint rumbles had reached her, stories of the First District slowly regathering its resources, and tales of Searrs' supposed renewed interest in the surviving HiME. At first, she had dismissed the rumors as phantoms of the imagination... grasping attempts by the members of Mashiro's vast network of informants to stay useful and ensure the continual flow of their payment. But recently, the whispers had grown to a low clamor, and the worry had begun to grow in her gut.

Fumi tried to put that all aside, and use this rare free time to bathe in the luxury of the memories her time serving Mashiro-sama afforded her. She traced her fingertips down the wooden supports of the ornately engraved wheelchair, noting with some dissatisfaction that a minute but noticeable amount of dust had accumulated between her cleanings. Her responsibilities left her precious little time for the housework she enjoyed so, but she indulged herself when she could.

She moved to the closet, pulling out a feather duster, allowing herself a small smile of satisfaction. Letting it trail gently down the painted wood, she expertly eliminated any blemishes from the embodiment of her memories of her love. Mashiro-sama wasn't truly gone, she knew. Though events had effectively separated them forever, just the fact that her wispy, purple haired master was still alive and sleeping peacefully was enough to give Fumi the strength to enjoy life. As she moved from room to room, her duster fastidiously removing any particles of dust from the raised surfaces of the room, the distance between herself and Mashiro-sama felt as though it narrowed to nothing.

Humming softly to herself as she worked, she made her way into her office. A slight creak, as though the weight being borne by her leather chair had shifted, sounded through the room. She stopped, surprised by the intrusion. The chair faced away from her, so she couldn't be sure. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice calm and polite.

The brown chair rotated slowly, revealing a figure reclining behind her desk. A long crop of sanguine hair drooped below her shoulders, and her head was tilted down, letting her bangs fall and obstruct Fumi's view of her eyes. Papers were clutched tightly in the figure's hands... the most recent batch of information culled from the network, by the looks of it. The figure's voice was low and strained. "What did you do to her?"

Fumi walked closer, narrowing her eyes to see more clearly in the shadows. "Yuuki-san?" The girl stared back at her with deadened eyes, a blank expression upon her face._ What is she doing back here? _Never one to forget her courtesies, Fumi smiled broadly. "Welcome back, Yuuki-san. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Help me?" Nao asked, her voice sounding harsh. "Tell me... what did you do to her?"

"Do to... whom?" the pink-haired woman asked tentatively.

Fumi barely even saw the flash of movement before Nao had leaped over the desk, slamming into her body and carrying her to the floor. Her hands were barely raised to protect herself when she saw a flash of metal, a letter opener that had been lying on her desk, screaming down towards her. It missed her head by inches, instead piercing through her sakura curls, thudding heavily as it was driven nearly an inch into the polished floorboards. The handle quivered next to her head, but her attention was on Nao's face. Moisture clouded the corners of the girl's eyes, but her expression was one of pure anger and desperation. "What did you do to my mother??" she shouted from inches away from Fumi's face.

Reports unheeded came to her mind, and a sensation of dread washed over her. _Oh dear._ _This is going to get very... very bad. _


	2. A Sudden Chase

Author's Note: Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido, which is the upper island of Japan. Fukka is a fictional town, so it has no true location, but I've always assumed it was somewhere near Tokyo.

-----

Natsuki walked into the apartment, tossing the mail she had retrieved from the mail slot upon the table. Ever since she and Nao had moved to Sapporo, Mai had been trying to find a time for them to come back for a formal HiME reunion, and she had sent another letter about it. Natsuki would have liked to, but recently her and Nao's schedules had become increasingly busy. While she was regarding Mai's letter, she realized the small but comfortable living quarters were very quiet. "I'm home!" she attempted, hearing the announcement bounce off the walls of the apartment. No reply came back, and she frowned slightly as she quickly glanced into each of the rooms. Nao was supposed to be home by now, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. _'Come to think of it... was her bike even in the parking lot?'_ Natsuki went to the window, drawing open the curtains to look down to the pavement below. She shielded her eyes from the direct sun as the bright sunlight poured into the room. When her eyes adjusted, she frowned. Nao's motorcycle, a twin of her own, was nowhere to be found. _'Maybe she went out with some friends from class?'_ A small pout graced her expression. Nao had promised to cook dinner tonight, and Natsuki had been looking forward to eating a good meal. The two of them still mostly ate takeout, but Nao had developed into a decent cook recently. It had taken Kaori's lessons years to sink in, though, and Natsuki herself was still a lost cause.

The raven haired girl checked her cellphone for voice mail. Despite Nao's decidedly independent and impulsive bent, she was usually pretty dutiful about letting Natsuki know when plans changed. But as she clicked through the menus on the hand held device, a computerized woman's voice dashed her hopes, announcing that no new messages had been left. Nao's unplanned absence was more annoying than worrisome, but it still left a bad feeling in Natsuki's stomach as she considered it. She called up the speed dial number for Nao's cellphone, but before the second ring had even begun, she heard a low ring tone playing from their bedroom. With a sinking sensation, Natsuki stayed on the phone as she walked around the corner, tracing the source of the sound to Nao's cellphone, apparently forgotten on the nightstand. _'God damn it. Just when its actually important...' _

Accepting that she wouldn't be eating a home cooked meal tonight, Natsuki dialed the number of a local pizza place. Placing an order, she rifled through her wallet as the man on the other end of the phone confirmed her order back to her. "Um..." she intoned after he asked if the order was correct. She had forgotten she had spent the last of her cash cash refilling her bike with gas. "Can we put this on my credit card? The tip too..."

She read off the string of numbers that comprised her credit card number, asking him to throw on a decent tip for the delivery boy. There was a moment of silence at the other end, and then a tentative reply. "Um... Kuga-san... your credit card was rejected."

"... You're kidding me." she replied.

"'fraid not. You and Yuuki-san are regular customers here though... I can check with my boss if its okay for us to extend you credit, if that's..."

"No, that's fine." Natsuki intoned, rubbing her temple. "Sorry for the trouble." She ended the call without waiting for a reply, feeling disgruntled and embarrassed. She slammed the cellphone down against the table, looking at it unhappily. She knew she was cutting it close, but she was pretty sure that she still had a decent buffer before she reached her credit limit. Money had been tight for the couple, especially after Natsuki opened her motorcycle repair shop, for which she had accepted Nao's snarky suggestion to name 'The Silver Cartridge'.

Her mood suitably darkened, she went into the apartment's tiny kitchen to rummage around in their freezer for something to heat up. After tossing a package of what looked like frozen pasta into the microwave, she sat down in front of her laptop, a graduation gift from Shizuru. With a furrowed brow, she logged into her bank's website, calling up a history on her credit card usage. The page loaded slowly, and getting impatient, she went to watch her pasta turn. After the microwave's buzzer rang, she pulled it out, pulling out a few experimental strings of pasta with her chopsticks and placing them in her mouth. It was dry, but tasty enough.

Returning to the computer, she scanned through the data that had finally loaded. She recognized all of the charges as she traversed the list, until she reached the very bottom. Choking in surprise, she set down the black plastic tray she had been eating from and coughed into her hand, swinging her head back up to confirm what she thought she had seen previously once she was certain she wouldn't suffocate. Sure enough, the baffling, errant charge was still there. _'What the... twenty three thousand yen _approximately $200 _to Japan Airlines Domestic? Is that a plane ticket?' _That charge was enough to push her credit card over her credit limit. According to the site, the charge had been placed four hours ago, while she was at work.

"What the hell is going on?" she said aloud in the emptiness. The only other person who knew her credit card number was Nao, and she would only use it in an emergency. What could be serious enough that Nao would use her credit card to buy a ticket to somewhere, without telling Natsuki and without her cellphone? Natsuki had a sickening panicked sensation at the bottom of her stomach. She hurriedly accessed her email account, ignoring several unread messages from clients and suppliers relating to her fledgling business. With any luck, Nao had simply used the reservation account attached to the credit card. _'There it is!'_ A ticket confirmation email from the airline. She opened the email.

**Passenger: Yuuki Nao-san. **

**Ticket Type: One Way Express. **

**Destination: Fuuka Airport. **

Natsuki stared at the email in disbelief. _'What on earth possessed her to fly back to Fuuka?'_ There was virtually no one that they knew left there... most of the former HiME had graduated and scattered to the winds over the years; drawn off by their own destinies. A fleeting thought occurred to her, and though she would have liked to dismiss it out of hand, it was the only plausible theory she could come up with. _'Did she get so aggravated with normal life here that she ran off to her old stomping grounds?' _

Like any couple, they had had their ups and downs over the years. A few nights ago they had had a minor fight over something silly... it took Natsuki a moment to place what it had even been about. She had berated Nao over her habit of always putting things off until the last moment. They were both eternally guilty of minor to moderate procrastination, but this time it had cost them a dinner date because Nao had retreated to her room to finish a paper. But there had been no lasting bad feelings... that was ridiculous. They had weathered much worse storms in the past, and neither of them had ever held a grudge.

Natsuki swallowed with difficulty. She wasn't certain what was going on, but she knew she couldn't sit passively and do nothing. The inaction would eat away at her. With only one option left, she jogged out the door and down the stairs to the parking lot. She turned the ignition of her bike, feeling the reassuring rumble of the motor beneath her. _'Just you wait, Nao. I'm coming after you, and when I find you, you better have a damn good explanation for me.'_


	3. Chances To Atone

Shizuru was in unusually good spirits, though, so would most people be who are off to see a friend they haven't seen in three months, she reasoned. After finishing her undergraduate work in only three years, she had transferred to start studying law at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. It was quite draining, even for someone such as her, and the schedule left her with little time for dalliances. Still, over the last few years, she had managed to fit in time for visits to Kaori. Ever since Kaori had moved to Sapporo, visiting her had become more difficult. But Shizuru managed to borrow her father's private jet again, under the guise of attending a conference for information to enrich her law degree. And so here she was, making her way through the Sapporo airport terminal after her plane had landed and taxied over to a hanger reserved for private planes.

"Fujino-sama." The elderly servant walking next to her began, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Shall I have your luggage sent to your hotel room?"

"I thank you for your concern, Akiko-san." she replied airily, pulling the small wheeled bag behind her. "But I pack lightly. I think I'd prefer to carry it myself." She smiled sweetly. _'I won't be going to my hotel, or to the conference either, but you don't need to know that.' _she thought. It occurred to Shizuru then that Akiko might snoop around to make sure she did arrive at her hotel; the older woman was pleasant enough, but she was loyal to the elder male Fujinos first and foremost, and Shizuru was a distant second. It only took a moment to conceive of a solution. "And... Akiko-san. There is a chance that I may need to return to Kyoto at some point during the night... a private matter it is possible I may need to attend to. I went ahead with attending this conference because it is only a small chance, but just in case... I'd like you and the pilot to keep the plane ready for my return at any time."

"But... Fujino-sama..." the older woman's brow was creased with a frown.

"I know its inconvenient for you, but it is really quite important." Shizuru cut her off briskly.

"... As you wish, Fujino-sama."

Shizuru allowed herself a small smile as she scanned the concourse absently. The elderly woman wouldn't be so bold as to actively defy the wishes of her employer, Shizuru was certain. Her plans were safe. "Would you be so kind as to prepare the paperwork for my rental car?"

"Of course, Fujino-sama. It will be ready by the time you arrive to pick it up."

Shizuru nodded brusquely, parting ways with the woman with a small bow of her head as they reached an intersection. The stress of the last few months felt as though it was melting off of her. The Kansai woman felt a small bounce in her stride, a symptom of her giddiness at the prospect of seeing Kaori again. She stilled her gait back into its normal, confident yet calm strides, even as she exalted in the emotion. She felt happier than she had in months.

She stopped by a small kiosk to purchase a cup of tea. It was supposedly a good mandarin blend, but the tea wasn't warm enough and had a peculiar taste. Grimacing, she sipped it quietly as she wandered about the airport. They would deliver her rental car to the main entrance, so she wandered about the busy isles of people, watching them as they hurried about their lives.

She caught the fleeting edge of a voice, one that she would never forget the owner of, despite not seeing her for the same length of time as not seeing Kaori. She twisted her head, scanning the crowd of travelers. Between an arguing husband and wife, she spotted the distinctive raven hair at a ticket counter. She made her way past the line, absently offering apologies as she pushed between people waiting.

"Damn it!" Natsuki slammed her hand on the counter, yelling at the woman working behind it. "You don't understand. I need to get on that plane."

"I'm sorry, Miss." the agent returned. "Boarding is starting in five minutes, and even if it wasn't, there aren't any seats. I told you, we can seat you on a plane to Fuuka tomorrow in the morning, we have openings in..."

"That's not acceptable!"

Shizuru slid past the last customers before the counter, ignoring their protests. She gently placed her hand on Natsuki's shoulder, keeping it there steadily when the raven haired girl spun on her in a fury. Natsuki quickly calmed when she saw who it was. "Shizuru? What... what are you doing here?"

Shizuru wasn't sure what was going on, but it was clearly serious. Despite that, she couldn't help but give Natsuki a hard time and tease her a bit. It was such an ingrained habit that in many ways, it would have been easier to stop breathing. "Ara... you forgot? I'm hurt."

Natsuki pushed stray bangs out of her eyes, looking frustrated and angry, but she lightened up as she remembered. "Right. You're coming up visiting Kaori. That's another reason Nao has been in a bad mood for the last week." She offered an apologetic smile despite herself. "Well, I'm happy to see you, anyway."

Shizuru held her hands over her heart, her delight only slightly exaggerated. "Natsuki-chan is happy... so I can be happy." She glanced at the woman at the ticket counter, and to the customers in line, who's expressions ranged from bemusement to open anger. "So... what's the problem? You seemed angry before."

Natsuki turned back. "I... really need to get back to Fuuka immediately, but they won't let me buy a ticket."

"Oh, is that all?" Shizuru put one hand behind the distraught raven haired girl, and gave the customer service woman a small wave, guiding Natsuki away from the counter. "If its that important to you, maybe I can help out."

"How?" Natsuki asked, confused.

"Haven't I always told you? If Natsuki-chan is ever in trouble, I'll be here to save you." Her voice was whimsical, intentionally not answering the question.

Natsuki seethed, glancing back and forth between the customers who were eagerly filling her place and the annoyed looking ticket agent who seemed relieved to see her gone. "That doesn't really tell me anything."

"I came on my own jet." She put a finger to the side of her lips, considering. "We don't have a flight plan to leave, but it doesn't take that long, if you know the right people to talk to... we can probably get you in the air within an hour. That's better than waiting for a commercial flight, is it not? Now, depending on how long you stay there, I can probably only offer you a ride down. I permission to use the jet for the next two days, so..."

Natsuki managed a smile, giving the taller woman a hug. "No, its perfect. Thank you so much, Shizuru. I hate to trouble you like this."

The Kyoto born woman hugged her back tightly, enjoying the hug more than she probably should. She reigned in that thought before it went to far, teasing her instead. "It's my pleasure, to save a cute girl in distress."

Natsuki made a show of rolling her eyes. "I bet you say that to all girls."

"No, only the cute ones." Shizuru retorted, before quickly changing the subject. "If I might inquire... why do you need to get back to Fuuka so urgently? Is anything wrong?" Natsuki didn't answer for a moment, instead making a face as though she had eaten something sour and it was stuck in her throat. "Ah... its okay if you don't want to tell, me, but..."

"No, its not that. I'll just be able to explain better when I come back." She shook her head. "Sorry for being mysterious."

"Don't worry yourself about it. Here, I'll walk you to the jet."


	4. Bitter Understanding

It was dusk before the plane landed, and she could escape the disapproving eyes of the Fujino's elderly servant. She was standing outside the airport uncertainly. The wind picked up violently, tossing raven hair wildly and obscuring her vision. Natsuki held up her hand absently to at least shield her eyes, letting the rest of her waist-long locks billow out sideways. Nao had convinced her to grow it out longer than was really practical, but the redhead had a way of asking that was hard to refuse. Just thinking about her made Natsuki feel like there was a pit in the bottom of her stomach. _'Nao...' _

Except, Natsuki had no idea what she was supposed to do. She was in Fuuka, but hadn't yet managed to think of any plans for once she arrived. She had realized part way through the flight that she had left her cellphone back at her apartment, something she had _just_ been berating Nao about. Now both of them were without mobile communication, lost in the city they had first met. _'What am I even going to do?'_ She kicked a rock, frowning. _'I guess the first thing is to get in contact with someone here I know, so I'm not on the street at night.' _

Natsuki waved away a taxi which honked its horn at her, searching for easy passengers at the entrance to the airport. Her wallet was pathetically light; besides her identification and a useless credit card, she had enough in coins for two phone calls. She wandered the sidewalks outside the airport, finally finding a public phone booth. She entered and closed the door, leaning against the glass of the booth, and flipped through the pages of the phone book. _'I don't even know who I'm looking for. Geez... who's still left back in Fuuka? Shiho? I think she's still in school, but I don't really know her well enough. Who else... hrm... oh! Okuzaki Akira.' _She flipped to the section, but couldn't locate the name. She tried again, scanning through the kanji, but it wasn't in the book. _'Hrmph. I suppose it is sort of silly trying to find a shinobi's name in the phone book. What about Mai's little brother?' _She looked for a Tokiha, but again ended up with nothing. They must still live on campus, then. Natsuki gritted her teeth in desperation. There must be someone... someone she could call. Finally, she got a flash of a memory. _'Didn't Mai say that Midori was returning from America to take a teaching position at Fuuka?' _She flipped more pages. _'Sugiura... Sugiura... ... damn.' _Still nothing.

Then, a shadow of plan formed in her mind. If she called Fuuka Gakuen, they might release Midori's home or mobile number to her. The school would never release a students information, but maybe if she played her cards right, they would for a teacher. Natsuki sighed, staring out through the double paned glass of the booth as litter was whisked by in the tumultuous wind. She wasn't even certain that Midori was employed at Fuuka Gakuen, but she didn't have any better ideas, and desperate times called for desperate measures. She slipped her coins into the phone's slot, and punched in a series of numbers.

"Fuuka Gakuen, school for gifted minds in primary and secondary education. This is the front desk, how may we help you?"

"Hi. My name is Kuga Natsuki, and I'm looking for a woman who's employed at Fuuka Gakuen as a teacher. Her name is Suguira Midori-sensei?"

"Please hold."

Natsuki gritted her teeth as she was put on hold. A classical symphony began to play in her ear, which was supposed to make passing the time more pleasant, but only aggravated her. Before the receptionist returned to the phone, she had to insert another coin to keep the call going.

"I'm sorry, Suguira-sensei has returned home for the evening. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Um... yeah." Natsuki sighed, leaning against the glass. "I'm an old student of hers, and a friend. I'm supposed to meet with her... is there anyway that you can give me her phone number? A home or mobile phone would be fine."

"Hrmm..." the woman sounded worried. "We're not authorized to release personal information about faculty, I'm afraid. I can let her know you called in the morning, if you'd..."

"That's not good enough." Natsuki said in frustration. "I really need to talk to her, urgently. My name is Kuga Natsuki, and she knows me well." She lowered her voice to a deep growl. "She will be very upset with you if you don't let me get in contact with her."

"Umm..." The only sound over the phone was breathing for several seconds. "I'll check with the Director. Please hold for a moment."

The music came back, having entered into a section of primarily wind instruments. Natsuki bit her tongue, waiting as the 'moment' stretched on into minutes. She fed more coins into the public phone, momentarily debating the wisdom of spending the coins which were supposed to feed her second call. But if this one fell through, what other options did she have? After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting, she grimly inserted her final coin, having spent all of her change upon this slim hope.

"Kuga-san?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin. The voice wasn't Midori's, but it was something, at least. It took Natsuki a minute to place the sickly sweet, formal tones. "Fumi... san?"

"Kuga-san... I have some news for you regarding Yuuki-san."

Natsuki slammed her hand against the glass, her voice filling with hope. "You know where she is? Is she okay?"

"She is unharmed physically..." Fumi stated carefully, her voice shaky. "Well, I think it would be best if you came to see for yourself. Where are you?"

"I'm at a public phone booth at the Fuuka Airport." She looked around. "Near the entrance to long term parking."

"I'll send a car for you immediately. Stay there, please."

The line went dead.

-----

Nao lay on the unfamiliar bed, staring at the cracking white paint on the ceiling. She was chewing on the corner of her blankets, because that was the only think that could keep her for grinding her teeth together in silent rage. Why did it seem like life loved to use her as its private outhouse? She slammed her hand against the nightstand, feeling the sting the impact left against the skin of her palm, savoring the pain.

_Knock knock knock. _

The redhead glanced over with deadened eyes at the door to the dorm room Fumi had confined her in. It was probably only one of the Director's goons coming to make sure she was still in the room. _'As if I had anywhere else to go.' _she raged in her head. It was either that, or the detestable pink haired woman had sent a psychologist to see her. After the first tragedy with her mother, her relatives had bounced her around between specialists. Always with the couches, always with the questions. _'Mama was _stolen_ from me, you bastards!' _she would yell at them. Did they really think that their polite queries and suggested breathing exercises could help with that? She needed to _do _something... _hurt _someone... someone she could sink her claws into. So... let them knock. They could knock all night long, for all the good it would do them.

But the follow up set of noises from her door weren't a polite set of knocks, but instead sounded like someone was punching the door with all of their might. The wooden plank rattled on its hinges under the mighty blows, and a voice she would recognize anywhere shouted "Open up, Nao!"

A cold stark fear ran through her, quickly followed by a wave of guilt. _'Natsuki...'_ She rolled up off the bed, trotting over to the door, and undoing the deadbolt. Natsuki's beautiful face was before her, creased with anxiety.

She came into the room like a tornado, and clasped Nao in a hug. The embrace only lasted for a few seconds though, and quickly on its heels came a furious rebuke. "What possessed you to run out here? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

The redhead winced. She tried to turn away, but Natsuki grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her back. The raven haired girl's anger was at least partially justified, she knew, and she was too emotionally exhausted to even explain her side. "Shut up. Just... leave me alone."

Natsuki stared at the younger girl incredulously. "What the hell is wrong with you? I've been chasing you across half of Japan trying to figure out why you up and left without telling me anything! And all you have to say is 'leave me alone'?"

She had screwed up, and screwed up bad. Nao hated that feeling, and her disgust for herself only made her retreat farther into her own shell. "It doesn't have anything to do with you." Nao brooded, twisting out of the older girl's grasp and collapsing back on the bed.

Natsuki paused before continuing, calming herself with steading breaths. She sat on Nao's bed with her back to the younger girl, her voice echoing in the mostly empty dorm room. "It does have something to do with me. Whatever caused this, its got you broken up pretty badly. We're in this together, Nao... don't shut me out now. What happened?"

Nao swallowed with difficulty, feeling hot tears of anger fighting to surface again. She ground her fist against her eyes, resisting them bitterly. "Mama... she..." Natsuki turned her head to look into Nao's eyes, her expression concerned, but she waited for Nao to continue. The redhead sniffed. "She's relapsed back into a coma."

The air hung, pregnant with tension, before Natsuki blinked. "What? That's..."

"Impossible? No shit." Nao spat venomously. "I'm a medical student, remember Natsuki? I'm fully aware that its not possible to 'relapse' back into a coma caused by blunt force trauma. She's been fully healthy for more than four years now. But multiple people at her workplace watched her trail off mid-sentence and collapse." Nao stared at her hands, as though she was somehow to blame, and the incriminating blood coated them. "They took her for an MRI immediately; there were no blood clots, nothing wrong with her brain. She's the perfect specimen of health, except she's... in a coma." The words were wrenched from Nao's throat, thick with emotion.

Natsuki's voice was soft. "And you came here because?"

"Heh." The redhead covered her eyes and rolled onto her back. "It's all connected to the Fextival, I 'm sure of it. Mama told me that for the last month, she's been having really vivid dreams. Nightmares, more like it. They're about fire, shattering crystals, snapping threads... but the one thing that she described the most clearly was a young girl with purple hair. She described, in perfect detail, Kazahana Mashiro. The bitch that started the whole shit storm in the first place."

"So you came to..."

"Interrogate her replacement." Nao stated flatly.

Natsuki held no illusions that Nao's method of interrogation had been a polite series of questions. No wonder Fumi's voice had sounded so shaky over the phone. "Did you find anything out?"

Nao shook her head slowly. "Nothing that's going to save her." She looked up at Natsuki, the despair plain on her face. "I can't do it again, Natsuki. I can't watch my mother slowly die in front of me."

A wave of guilt crushed all of Natsuki's other emotions. She felt like she had been kicking a puppy. It took her a moment to recover. "You won't have to, Nao. We made a promise a long time ago... we're both in this together." She repeated the mantra, watching the younger girl tremble. "We'll figure out what's going on, I promise you, and if we can do anything to fix it, we'll do it together." Natsuki put her hand on Nao's shoulder, squeezing her reassuringly. "All I want from you is a promise you aren't going to run off again by yourself. You scared me to death."

"I know." Nao managed miserably. There was very few things in this world that she felt bad about, but hurting Natsuki was definitely one of them. "I... I won't do it again. I just panicked."

"Its okay... all is forgiven." Natsuki said with a lopsided smile. She leaned down to give Nao a small peck on the lips, but Nao's hands clasped behind her neck, drawing her down. They kissed fiercely, and Natsuki could taste the salty remnants of tears on her cheeks. She halfheartedly tried to extract herself from the redhead's grasp. "You're a wreck, Nao. You should get some rest..."

"Don't." Nao intoned, gripping raven hair by the roots and pulling her back down. "Don't leave me."

She didn't take much convincing. Their lips closed around one another's again, and Natsuki sunk down into her embrace. "I won't, Nao. I won't."


	5. A Fated Gathering

Author's Note: I struggled over the name for that room with the glass dome on the top... the one that has the circular railing people tie ribbons to during the festival. Static Subs uses 'Crystal Arena' to refer to it, but after some struggle, I finally decided to use the name 'The Crystal Atrium' for my own purposes, since it has the best ring to my ear.

This chapter has lots of exposition, which is why it took so long to write. I tried to strike the right balance between informative and interesting, but some of you might think its too slow. I promise things will heat up next chapter.

And this is probably common knowledge, but just to be sure... a kunoichi is a female ninja, and a kunai is a small dagger like weapon with a ring at the base of the hilt often used by ninjas.

And thank you to Holly Warner for warning me about an accidental typo of Akira to Arika. Gods, no... she's not coming back. shudder Sorry for anyone who I scared.

-----

Burgundy eyes flashed open, instantly alert. Okuzaki Akira laid in bed silently, trying to identify why she had woken. She was an extremely light sleeper, something of an occupational hazard, but she had learned long ago to rely on her instincts. Given the faint light she could see out the window, the sun was making its presence known, but hadn't risen yet, so it was too early in the morning for her to have woken naturally.

She listened intently, concentrating her senses. She couldn't immediately hear anything but Takumi as he slept peacefully next to her, his breath rising and falling in an even pattern. He had cast an arm across her body as she slept, holding her unconsciously. As loathe as she was to leave his warmth, she slid out from under the blankets, ignoring her nudity.

Her footfalls were effortlessly silent across the carpeted floor, and she pressed her ear against her the door to her dorm room. She could hear them more clearly now... two people, both of them lingering outside her door. They were both adults, by the sound of it. All in all, highly suspicious, considering how few adults traveled into the students' dormitories.

Akira's heart beat faster, preparing herself for possible combat. She padded back over to her nightstand, retrieving the kunai she always kept there. As she spun it between her fingers and considered her course of action, the people in front of her door knocked. That soothed her fears slightly... people in her profession rarely announced their existence if they intended to harm anyone.

She returned to the door, balancing the weapon loosely in her left hand as she opened the door with her right. She shielded most of her body from view, peeking only her head out to look. To her subtle relief, it was two people that she recognized easily... the school's pink haired Director, Himeno Fumi, and her perpetually cheerful yet often drunken homeroom teacher, Sugiura Midori-sensei. The former had her head bowed apologetically, while the latter leaned heavily against the far wall with her eyes lidded and looking mildly hung over.

"What do you two want?" she asked gruffly.

"I'm terribly sorry for intruding upon your rest, Okuzaki Akira-san." The Director kept her voice low, though out of concern for the sleeping students in nearby rooms or a need for secrecy, Akira couldn't tell. "But there is an urgent matter I humbly request your help with."

Akira rubbed the back of her neck. Fumi always spoke so politely, and it made her uncomfortable. "What is it?" she replied uncertainly.

"Unfortunately, I cannot explain the exact details at this time..." she started. "I think it would be best if all of you are gathered before I tell you what I know, as it will take some time. I was hoping you could locate Tokiha Takumi-san and Munakata Shiho-san, and bring them to the Crystal Atrium. I was planning on asking Sugiura-sensei to take care of gathering those two, but I don't think she is up to the task at the moment..."

Midori made a disgruntled noise and waved her hand, her throat sounding dry. "I told you, I'm fine. I haven't been getting much sleep lately, so..."

Akira wasn't certain what was going on, but Fumi had never given the kunoichi a reason not to trust her. _'Takumi at the very least won't be too challenging to find.' _she mused. She kept the thought to herself, though, as his visit was technically against the dormitory rules. "Fine, as long as you explain what's going on soon. You want me to bring them down right away?"

"With all possible expediency." Fumi confirmed. "I will join you when I am able."

Akira nodded brusquely and let the door swing shut. She had a foreboding feeling. There was some quality in Fumi's voice that Akira couldn't quite place, but it worried her. She chewed on her lip quietly for a moment, considering, but then shook her head. If they were in immediate danger, Fumi probably would have mentioned it. All the same, Akira resolved to bring the kunai with her, once she had some clothes to hide it in.

She made her way over to the bed, letting her fingers trail through Takumi's soft brown hair with a smile. He had grown into very handsome as he grew older. And though age had tempered his innocence some, he was still just as kind and just as feminine as when she had met him. But those were the qualities she loved him for, and she knew she would give anything to protect him.

The kunoichi nudged her lover's shoulder gently, rousing him from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes slowly, then blinked himself awake. "Is it... time for classes?"

"No, you big dummy." she teased him gently. "Its Saturday, and too early besides. Director Fumi wants us to come with her to the school for some reason. It sounded pretty important." She neglected the worrisome fact that each of the people who was being summoned was involved in the Festival. "So get up... and get dressed."

---

Natsuki sat with her head barely above the water level, enjoying the luxury of her bath. Steam drifted in slowly swirling clouds, meandering about the room and misting the mirror with condensation. The water was so hot it was nearly unbearable, but the raven haired girl exulted in the warmth. Long red marks lining her the skin of her back, testament to Nao's not-so-tender ministrations from hours before, stung under the intense heat of the water. She had never minded the younger girl's tendency to give love nips, scratches and her other feline tendencies in bed, and right now the slight pain was more soothing than anything else. The sensations were a reminder that Nao was fine, sleeping peacefully in the bed just outside the door, safe and sound. That knowledge alone warmed her more than the searing water.

_'I've been in here forever. Any longer and I'll turn into a prune...' _she thought remorsefully, stepping out of the water. She reached for one of the three fluffy towels she had found in their closet. The room had been unoccupied for some time, apparently,and unfortunately she hadn't managed to locate any soap or shampoo, but the water alone had done wonders for her. She finished drying her body and toweling off her legs, then wrapped the towel around her waist before going through the arduous process of drying her lengthy hair. She finally wrapped it up in her last fresh towel, coiling the hair onto her head and walking back out into the main room of their temporary dormitory.

The pale light of the morning cast itself across Nao's nude form, strew haphazardly, almost comically so, on the bed. She lay with her arms askew, one thrown over her eyes to shield them from the light, the other pinned in an uncomfortable looking position behind her, her back contorted into an uncomfortable looking position. She had a habit of twisting herself like a pretzel whenever Natsuki wasn't sleeping next to her, something stemming from her troubled nights in her childhood. The raven haired girl gazed upon the younger girl's form with a mixture of immediate relief and concern for the future. Kaori's bizarre relapse and talk of Mashiro and the Festival dredged up memories she would have preferred staying buried.

How long Natsuki stood there pondering the future while gazing at Nao, she wasn't sure, but at some point, the younger girl must have emerged from slumber enough to notice her. She stirred, her eyes opening half lidded, and she patted the vacant area in the bed next to her with a mumble. "Come back to bed."

It was surprising articulate, coming from Nao in the morning. The redhead suffered from low blood pressure, which usually made her rather slow to wake up. Natsuki felt wide awake, which was strange considering how little sleep they'd both gotten, but since the alternative was to stand around in her towel, she obliged Nao silently. The fabric around her waist dropped into a pool at her feet, and crawled into bed, drawing up the covers over both of them. She snuggled up next to her partner, feeling the other girl's warm body mold against her still damp skin.

Nao wrapped arms around her, drawing her in, burying her face in the towel restraining the raven hair. She made small noises of contentment before falling back asleep, her breath tickling the back of Natsuki's neck. She would have been content to lie like this, enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed together, but within a few minutes of settling down, the phone on the nightstand started to ring. Natsuki jumped with startlement, though Nao barely stirred beside her.

The raven haired girl made to answer it, but her partner's slender hand extended and restrained hers. "Don't."

Natsuki sighed. "What if its someone important, Nao?"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Nao said with her voice thick with sleep, barely audible.

She sighed, shaking off the hand, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Yes... is this Kuga-san?"

"Fumi? Yes, its me."

"It's good to hear from you again, Kuga-san. How are your accommodations?"

"Well, we didn't bring any luggage with us, so we're a little short on amenities, but overall..." Natsuki cut herself off with a squeak as Nao's fingers pinched her bottom, a sign of her annoyance at a combination Natsuki's pulling away and the noise keeping her awake. She turned and swatted playfully at the younger girl, who sighed tiredly and rolled over, turning away.

"Kuga-san?" Fumi's concerned voice came over the phone. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry... I'm fine. It was just..." She trailed off, uncertain how to explain it in a way that wasn't embarrassing.

There was a short pause, in which Fumi apparently comprehended the gist of the situation, at least enough to not press for further information. She cleared her throat. "And how is Yuuki-san doing?"

"She's... fine. She's doing a lot better."

"That is relieving... I was worried for her after our last encounter. She has..." Fumi hesitated, her voice delicate. "...a great deal of anger pent up inside her, though its only natural, considering what she's been through. Thank you very much Kuga-san, for tending to her as you have for these years."

Natsuki's mouth worked silently as she tried to come up with a reply. _'What the hell does that mean? _Tending _to her?' _She acted as Nao's therapist on occasion, mainly because Nao had a very low tolerance for dealing with close minded people, combined with a violent temper, so she was in constant need of advice and soothing to keep her from coming to blows with some of the people she was forced to interact with on a daily basis. But Natsuki's own personality mirrored those same qualities, if to a lesser degree, and the fiery redhead wound up comforting _her_ after an angry altercation with someone just as often as recieving comforted. "Um... yeah. Anyway, I never got a chance to thank you for sending that car for me."

"Think nothing of it, Kuga-san. Mashiro-sama and I owe an terrible debt to you and all of the HiME for perpetuating the Festival as we did four and a half years ago. Though, I hope to at least try and pay some of that back now..."

_'Now there's an ominous statement...' _"What do you mean by that?" Natsuki wondered, unable to hide the traces of dread in her voice.

"Forgive me for not answering your question directly, but all will be explained. I'm gathering the important people as we speak. Can you be at the Crystal Atrium in ten minutes?"

Natsuki glanced over at Nao, who was softly snoring away, the white sheets tugged snugly around her shoulders. She looked comfortable, and Natsuki was loathe to rouse her, but a certain amount of apprehension had already seized her. _'Important people? What are the chances that's the people involved in the Festival?' _On some level, she didn't really _want _to know, but if she didn't find out what Fumi was talking about, it would keep bothering her. "We'll be there in five."

"Very well. Until we meet again."

The line clicked dead. Natsuki lay still for a long moment with the phone still pressed against her ear, listening to the crackling silence. The slow sense of panic in her returned, eating at her stomach with its acid churning. She stirred herself to motion, sliding back out of bed, fumbling around in the dim light for her clothes.

Her partner objected in muted tones, searching for her missing warmth.

Natsuki's expression grew dark as she slipped her jeans on. "Come on Nao, get up."

"Wh... what?" the redhead protested weakly, her eyes barely open, her voice thready from sleep. "We went to sleep... barely... a few hours ago..."

"Well, too bad. Get up. We have to get going." Natsuki snapped, her agitation getting the better of her. All of the elation from her finding Nao safe was evaporating. She had been comfortable with her world, a week ago, settled into her routine of normalcy. It had taken her years to adjust to no longer needing to look over her shoulder, threatened by the First District and the ghost of her mother at every turn. And now, it was all shattered. There were too many unknowns in her life now, and her imagination was running wild. She needed to at least _know_ what was going on. No matter how bad it was, it was better than fleeting mystery. At least once she knew whatever it was that had Fumi so worried, she could face it head on.

"Five more minutes..." Nao said pitiably.

Natsuki put on her shirt, but was dismayed when she went to do up the buttons. She had forgotten that the night before, in her impatience, Nao had ripped the top five buttons off the shirt. It was something of a habit Nao had, especially during times of high stress. Natsuki normally didn't mind, because the redhead did most of the domestic chores in their tiny family unit, including the sewing, and she had always repaired the shirts afterwards. But at this point, there wasn't time, and Natsuki didn't have anything else to change into. She swore, pulling the shirt back off and stalking over to the still placid girl. "Get up!" she growled, dragging her out of the bed by her ankle.

Nao barely managed to catch herself before she fell flat on her face, settling for crumpling into a sitting position against the bed. She narrowed her eyes as she turned to Natsuki, trying to look menacing, but the effect was ruined when a massive yawn overtook her, and she looked like a wide mouthed lion as she stretched. Finally, she returned to staring at Natsuki, though with a much more subdued expression. "What the hell was that for?" she asked mildly.

"We've got to go." Natsuki frowned.

"Who died and made you Queen? Don't I get any say in this?" Nao dissented.

"No. Fumi's gathering us and some other people for an important announcement, and we need to be there... immediately. Plus, you destroyed my shirt last night." Natsuki held out the tattered garment for inspection.

"Eh..." Nao mumbled, and that was the closest thing to an apology Natsuki knew she would get.

"'Eh' nothing!" Natsuki exploded. "What am I going to wear? We need to be at a meeting with people in less than a minute! What do you want me to do?"

"I keep telling you, you look better exposing some cleavage..." Nao tried to joke, but Natsuki's glare made her laughter die off. "... fine. I'll go find something for you." She held out her hand for the raven haired girl to help her up, and Natsuki grudgingly helped her, still looking upset. The redhead rubbed her eyes, still trying to get blood to her extremities, and then rubbed her hands. "Right. Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes. We can be fashionably late."

-----

Akira rapped on the door for the fourth time in as many minutes, getting impatient. She shifted from foot to foot, contemplating picking the lock, when Takumi's hand slipped around her waist. She immediately stopped her fidgeting, leaning against his shoulder. "Sorry... I'm just a little... nervous." she admitted.

"No, its okay." Takumi smiled, mussing her close cropped hair slightly. He had outgrown her quite a bit as the years passed, and now in their second to last year of high school, the brown haired boy was nearly a head taller than her. Still, that made her head fit wonderfully upon his shoulder, a fact that she took advantage of often. She snuggled against him. "Maybe she's not here..."

Even as she said it, the door opened, and the figure inside glowered at them. "What do you two want at this time in the morning."

Akira tried to keep herself from staring. She had gone out of her way to avoid contact with Shiho Munakata since the Festival ended, especially since she had found out that the octopus-haired girl was directly responsible for her defeat and subsequent Takumi's death. But the years had not been kind to the girl who stood before her now. Shiho's trademarked four tailed hair style was still intact, but undecorated metal rings replaced her previous ribbons, and most of her hair was dyed a jet black. Her natural cherry shades were bleeding through at the roots, though, creating a strange effect. Excessive dark make-up, not removed from the day before, lined her eyes. The effect on Akira, who was accustomed to the sweet and cheerful Shiho of years ago, was pure and utter shock. She managed to recover, though not fast enough to cover the reaction, which only further deepened Shiho's bad mood.

"Well?" came the unpleasant prompt.

"Well... um..." Akira started uncertainly. "Fumi is calling you... and us too... down to the Crystal Atrium."

"What is this about? And why would she send _you two_?" Shiho asked nastily, her face full of undisguised suspicion.

Akira was about ready to lash out at her, but Takumi put a steadying hand on her shoulder, and replied in her stead. "We were the only ones available. As for what its about, we aren't certain, but we think it has to do with the events from four and a half years ago. She said it was important, so she's gathering everyone who was involved. That's why..." His explanation died under her withering glare.

"Everyone? Is _she _going to be there?"

Takumi hesitated, but his optimism won out, and he decided to ask, just in case his instincts were wrong. "Who do you mean?"

Shiho bared her lips. "That slut of a sister you have. The one who..." Her words died for a moment. "... who married Yuuichi-nii-chan."

Akira stayed her hand, if only because she knew it would upset Takumi if she acted on her instinct and punched the girl before them. She watched him swallow slowly, but calmly. They had guessed she was upset when they noticed she hadn't attended Mai and Yuuichi's wedding, but seeing the depth of her hatred, after so many years...

"No, I don't think my sister or Yuuichi will be there." her boyfriend finally managed. "It's short notice, and you might recall that they live in Tokyo. Whatever this is about, it involves you as well, and it would be best if you were there. But... you can find your own way there, I think."

Akira squeezed his hand as they turned and walked away from the door, leaving her standing there working her jaw. It was the coldest she had ever seen him act towards someone in a long time. Not that she didn't blame him. She went to say something, but he shook his head quietly, and she respected his wishes, walking in silence.

-----

Natsuki tried to force herself to stop pacing, and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. Nao returned within ten minutes, carrying a shirt. She tossed it to Natsuki, though her aim was off, and Natsuki had to lean forward to catch it before it hit the ground.

The raven haired girl stared at the prize Nao had retrieved for her... a burgundy sweatshirt labeled with pink flowing letters. _'PROUD PARENT OF A FUUKA GAKUEN STUDENT' _Natsuki's eyes bulged, and she looked up at Nao, hoping for an explanation, but she found the younger girl holding her hand out before her eyes swinging it back and forth.

"Um... Nao?"

"Yeah?"

"You do realize that its the middle of summer, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And that you got me a sweatshirt?"

"Yeah?"

"And that I am _not_, in fact, a parent of a Fuuka Gakuen student... proud or otherwise?"

The redhead wasn't even processing what she was saying. "Say, Natsuki... I think something is wrong with my vision."

"No shit. Is that why you got me this stupid shirt?" Natsuki grumbled as she pulled it over her head, walking over.

Nao still was swinging her hand back and forth in front of her eyes. She tried closing one, then the other. "I think my left eye is getting blurry or something. I'm losing my depth perception."

"Hrm." Natsuki put aside her anger for a moment and looked into both of her eyes. "You look fine, but I guess we'll get it checked out when we get home. Come on, lets go."

Nao nodded distractedly, and they headed off at a slow jog, across their old campus.

-----

The room was familiar to any student at Fuuka Gakuen, since it was a crossroads of sorts between several of the academic wings. The hall was huge, despite serving no discernible purpose besides connecting the various buildings. Its ceiling was three stories high, culminating in an enormous circular glass dome, towering high above their heads. This early in the morning, the room was very empty and would probably remain so for some time, since only a few clubs held activities on Saturday morning, and most of them were far from this section of campus.

Nao noticed they were the last ones to arrive, but only slightly behind a black haired girl who's hair style strangely resembled Shiho's. She was taken aback when she realized it really _was_ Shiho. The black dye in her hair really did not suit her... it made her skin look pale and gaunt. Maybe that was the intention?

Natsuki lead her impatiently to the back of the impromptu gathering that Fumi had assembled. The redhead's emerald eyes scanned over the people assembled, identifying them with only a little trouble. The woman with the large mess of dark orange hair would be Midori-sensei, the teacher with the obsession with old sentai shows. The wirey girl with close cropped, green hair would probably be Akira, the kunoichi who she had tangled with back during the Festival. And judging by her closeness to the sole male in the room, that would make him Mai's younger brother. The last time she had seen those two had been at Mai's wedding, which Natsuki had dragged her to. He was all grown up, but his eyes managed to keep that same mousy expression that made her stomach turn. That repulsive sense of vulnerability bothered her just as much as it had back the days of the Festival, but she had reached a point in her life where she was content to simply ignore people who bugged her instead of antagonizing them.

"Nice shirt."

That would be Shiho, making a snide comment to Natsuki. Nao noticed her older partner didn't seem to be in the mood to retaliate, so the fiery redhead stepped up in her stead. "Nice _hair_." she snickered. "I like the contrast of the black against your natural roots."

The octopus girl twitched self consciously, but only glared silently in response. Nao took that as a victory.

Natsuki elbowed her gently. "Pay attention." she whispered.

Fumi looked anxious, but she spoke clearly and loudly in the vast room, her voice echoing off the empty walls. "I'm glad to see everyone could make it on short notice. I'm sure you are all anxious to know why I've called you here." She let the statement hang in the air for a moment before ducking under the metal railing surrounding the circular area which was fenced off from the rest of the room. She beckoned for everyone to follow her, which they all did after a moments hesitation. "Does anyone know the legend behind this circle?"

There was a long silence, before Takumi finally raised his voice, saying into the air the facts that every Fuuka Gakuen student knew. "The school was built over the burial grounds of an ancient princess during the Edo period, under the rule of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. They say she committed suicide after her father separated her from her lover, and that now her spirit grants the wishes of those who desire to have someone return their feelings. That's why people tie ribbons to the railing."

Fumi nodded. "Precisely. The legend you students know is somewhat confused, but what is true is that we are standing over the resting spot of a very special girl. It was her wish that the truth of her suffering remain hidden and out of people's minds, so that she may rest in privacy. For a variety of reasons, I must now violate those wishes, but I would like all of you to keep her sacrifices in mind when you enter her domain. This is a person to whom you all owe a great deal, so please don't touch anything or make any loud noises." She returned to the railing and held on, drawing a slender black cylinder topped with a red button out of her pocket, hovering her finger over the control. "Please brace yourselves."

Everyone gathered made haste back to the railing, though staying on the inside of the circle, and held on to the bar with both hands. The sakura-curled headmaster engaged the controls, and the floor beneath them shuddered, before beginning a slow decent downwards. Nao watched as the floor of the room around them seemed to rise, though she knew it was only a trick of the perspective and it was indeed her that was lowering. It took a few seconds to notice after the initial jolt, but it seemed that the lift made virtually no sound as it lowered. It was strange, to think that something like this could exist without her knowing about it. She had come to Fuuka for her first year of middle school, yet she had never really given thought to the silly legend, or this area zoned off because of it. The multi colored carpet around the area hung out a few inches over the edge, and the excess passed by their heads uncomfortably close. The extra carpet had been covering the groove between the slowly sinking platform and the actual floor, in a way so that unless you knew it was there, you would never suspect this elevator existed.

Down and down they turned, and yet all she could see was more smooth rock, as though a perfectly even cylinder had been drilled straight down into the surface of the earth. The morning light from the surface drifted farther and farther away, until it seemed to be nothing but a pinhole above. Natsuki's hand gripped her arm, not tightly in fear, but simply to keep an assurance she was still there. She gave a small squeeze back.

When it seemed as though their journey would never end, a new light spilled out from a crack by their feet, and a startling array of colors and objects came into view as the gap between their platform and the ceiling of this new room they were descending into widened. Nao was taken aback… she had never seen something like this before. The room wasn't as vast as the one they had come from, but was still relatively big, and instead of empty, it was positively full. Electronics and screens of every size and description lined the walls, and tables covered with more complicated looking equipment were set in rows down the center of the room. Long displays, like the ones they had at Tokyo Stock Exchange or Wall Street, ran down the lengths of some of the walls, though instead of prices, these amber lights spelled out what looked like vital signs. Some were things that she recognized from her medical schooling… body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, end tidal CO2 levels, blood glucose level… and yet there were many more that made little sense to her. But the main feature of the room was a massive, misshapen crystal, with the naked body of a little girl embedded inside, frozen in place. It took Nao a moment, amidst all of the other things to take in, but she realized it was their old Director.

"Mashiro?" someone asked in a hushed voice, though Nao couldn't tell who.

"Yes, the girl resting here is Director Kazahana Mashiro-sama. Back during the Festival, the First District had this area fully manned with scientists. But after the failure of the Festival to produce the results they wanted, as well as the death of most of the elders and the destruction of their headquarters, most of them fled. I've been tending to Mashiro ever since."

There was a general murmur amongst the people who had come down, but one voice stood out. "So, Mashiro is still alive?" Midori asked, her scholar's curiosity piqued.

"Yes, very much so, although she has been asleep for some time. It was a great strain upon her to stay with us, so once she was certain I had everything in hand, she... retired here." Fumi said, her voice slightly choked, but strong. "Honestly, I don't know what would happen if she were to truly die. After all, she is the source of power for the magic that brought you all back to life, perhaps it would begin to fade. In fact, that's half of the reason that I brought you all down here to see this today."

The lift stopped its downward trek once it was flush with the floor, and the railing sunk into the ground. The various occupants fanned out, variously looking at the monitor and other equipment surrounding them. The air smelled strange, Nao noticed, as though it had been recycled so many times that all of the life had been filtered out of it. She shivered, looking at the naked body of the girl frozen within the crystal. She felt as though the inexorable hands of fate were drawing her and Natsuki back into things they'd rather not be involved with… things they thought they had left behind long ago.

Next to her, Natsuki sounded disgruntled. "After that school year ended, you told us Mashiro had left for vacation."

Fumi shook her head quietly. "I apologize for deceiving you, but I was not a liberty to explain the full situation to you then. Mashiro-sama does not desire praise or reward for the sacrifice she made for you all. Indeed, she feels as though it was only her duty, and that the extra time she was granted in this century was an undeserved reward."

Akira looked confused. "I don't understand. In this century? What do you mean?"

Midori grinned. "Oh, I can answer that. The Director participated in the previous Festival, three hundred years ago, right?" Fumi nodded slowly. "I did my thesis work on that, before coming here to teach. What a surprise, right? Not often you get to have a first hand source on a legend about an event so long ago in the past."

Fumi looked slightly distressed. "I must ask that none of you spread this information beyond these walls. It would against Mashiro-sama's wishes for this to be known by the general public."

They all turned and looked at each other, nodding in silent agreement.

Takumi voiced his questions next. "But, if Mashiro could manage to break the curse of the Hime and return those who died to life…" He shivered, clasping his arms around each other. "… then why did she have to go into that crystal?"

"She had to _return _to the Crystal. It is the fate of the Suishou no Hime. Each Festival comes to a conclusion when only one Hime remains, and traditionally, she will marry the Obsidian Lord and become the source of power for the next Festival, three hundred years in the future."

Midori was positively bristling with excitement, and she looked as though she wished she was taking notes. "What happened different this time?"

"The question should be what happened different _last_ time. During the Festival three hundred years ago, the victor of the previous Festival was a girl named Kuromura Chikaru. She refused to marry the Obsidian Lord after defeating all of the other Hime, and took her own life instead. Mashiro had been defeated earlier in the Festival, but was returned to life by the power of the Obsidian Lord, just as Minagi Mikoto was during this past Festival. Mashiro took Chikaru's place, becoming sealed away from the passage of time, and storing power to prepare for the next Festival." She began to walk over towards Mashiro's crystal prison. "Over the years, the legend blended the two parts of the tale, turning Chikaru and Mashiro's story into one. But rest assured, they were separate people."

"That doesn't explain why she's still here." Takumi protested.

"She is still here because your sister made a similar refusal to the Obsidian Lord during this most recent Festival. Mashiro-sama decided that instead of seeing Mai-san killed and Mikoto-san taking her place, as should have happened, she would set into motion a series of events which lead to the destruction of the Obsidian Lord, and free you all from your terrible burdens." Fumi had made her way over to the clear surface of the crystalline structure, and pressed her hand against it gently. "We did not know what the outcome of such an attempt would be. Mashiro-sama desired with all her heart to break this terrible cycle, but…"

"But what?" Akira prompted.

"Fate is not to be denied, it seems. Someone has realized that the Obsidian Lord never received his due. They have been drawing on the power that Mashiro-sama generates, and it is draining her." She sighed, pressing an ear against the rippled, translucent surface. "Because the Obsidian Lord never took a new wife, that the Festival was never truly concluded. It is, perhaps, merely suspended."

Nao had had enough of listening to this. "This is crap. What do you mean, the Festival isn't over? Our Childs are gone, our Elements too. Trust me, I've tried calling for them plenty of times. It's just not possible."

"Your powers are sealed away, but you are Hime still, I'm afraid. I wish it weren't so, believe me." She turned back, crooking a finger at Nao. "Yuuki-san, please come here."

Nao disengaged herself from Natsuki's arm tentatively, and walked over with a scowl. "What?"

The pink-haired headmaster retrieved a black metal device from the counter and waved it over her, popping the slowly compiling results up onto a large monitor. "It is as I feared. Yuuki-san, are you having any trouble with your vision?"

Nao swallowed uncertainly. Everyone was staring at her, Natsuki most of all. She held her hand up over her left eye and peered out of the right, and could see fine. Switching sides, she tried with only her left. The world was blurry, and her peripheral vision was almost non-existant. It was even dimmer than the last time she had checked. "Yeah…" she admitted hesitantly. "I can barely see out of this eye."

"That was the eye returned to you by Mashiro-sama's sacrifice, was it not?"

It was, but Nao refused to give her an answer. To say it out loud would require accepting the facts, and that was something she wasn't prepared to do. Instead, she stared at the slowly rotating three dimensional model of her body on the projected screen. The wireframe construct of her form was mostly green, but a deep pit of red covered the left side of her face.

The silence in the room had lingered for a long time as people absorbed the information. Finally, Fumi addressed the people gathered with a somber voice. "Approximately one month ago, Higurashi Akane-san was sent into a coma when a car, driven by her husband Kurauchi Kazuya-san went over the edge of an embankment and crashed into a tree. When police arrived at the scene, her husband was gone, leaving her bleeding to death. The police ruled that he had fled the scene, and there is a warrant for his arrest, but... the police failed to find any trace of him at the crash site... no blood and no footprints. Its highly unlikely he would have been alive after the damage their vehicle sustained, much less able to flee the scene."

The new Director looked uncharacteristically unsettled, biting her lip before continuing. "At first, I had suspected foul play. There were no bad weather conditions, and the car was almost brand new... nothing to suggest why an able man crashed his vehicle on a gentle turn on a clear day. But with this new information coming to light, I have a new theory. Whatever is drawing off of Mashiro-sama's energies has drained her to the point where she can no longer sustain the magic which keeps those of you she returned to life alive. That would explain what happened to Kazuya... he simply disappeared."

Akira looked ill. "If you're right... that means that everyone who disappeared during the Festival is going to die again?" Her grip on Takumi's arm was strong enough to make him wince, though he didn't utter a word of complaint.

"Perhaps. There is no reason to think the trend will not continue... indeed, it seems to be accelerating. Yuuki-san's mother relapsed into the coma that Mashiro pulled her from, and Yuuki-san's own wounds are slowly returning."

Midori slammed her fist down on a table, her eyes burning with determination. "Well, I refuse to accept that. There has to be something we can do."

Fumi smiled slightly. "I have the same hopes as you, Sugiura-sensei. I was hoping that, given your knowledge of the Festival, you could stay and assist me in my search for a way to stop and even reverse this tragedy."

Akira frowned. "And what will the rest of us do? You don't expect us to just sit here and wait for the ones we love to vanish, do you?"

"Of course not." Fumi pursed her lips. "If there is any solution to all of this, it will probably require all of the Hime's presence. I'd like the remaining of you to help gather everyone back up."

Shiho, who had remained completely quiet up until that moment, made a snide comment. "Can't you just call them?"

"I've been trying, but I've had trouble getting through to some of them." Fumi clarified. "Suzushira Haruka-san and Kikukawa Yukino-san left for vacation in Okinawa together three days ago. Both of their cellphones have been off since last night, when I began trying to contact them, and the resort will only take a message for them. So far, they haven't responded. I'd like you, Munakata-san, to go to their resort there and get in contact with them. I've already made the arrangements for you to fly on a domestic flight. Your flight leaves in two hours."

From the back, Shiho looked surprised. "O... okay. I guess."

"And Okuzaki-san, you and Tokiha-san will be be traveling by bus out to Tokyo, to the Tate's residence." The kunoichi and her boyfriend nodded in sync. "For some reason, their phone is disconnected. The company that Yuuichi-san works for should be opening soon, so I can call and find out what's going on. It's probably nothing, but just in case, I'd like you two to go out and see if anything is wrong."

"Wait a minute." Shiho protested. "Why can't I be the one who is going to Yuuichi-nii-chan's..." she trailed off, not wanting to complete her outburst.

Fumi frowned. "With the upcoming vacation week, all of the flights to Okinawa are completely booked. It took a great deal of effort to secure even a single ticket on such short notice. I apologize if you don't like your task, but..."

The octopus haired girl glowered at the floor. "It's fine." she grumbled.

Akira nodded, gripping her boyfriend's arm with a lighter but still firm grasp. "Understood. We'll get going as soon as the meeting is over."

"Which I think it is, unless anyone has any questions." Fumi spread her hands. "Kuga-san and Yuuki-san, I have a task for you two as well, but it will take longer to explain, and these three need to get going in order to make their arranged travel plans." Everyone was quiet, so she gave her final words. "Remember, we don't know what or whom we are facing. I don't think there is any immediate danger, but stay wary."

Midori was nearly bursting with excitement. "If only I could come with you!" Her hands were pressed together against her chest, and she swayed dreamily. "Out there in the field, against an unknown enemy..." She suddenly straightened up, saluting. "Hime Sentai! Disperse!" The three had already made their way back to the elevator without acknowledging her, and it began to ride upwards silently. She looked mildly dismayed, but waved to them as they vanished upwards.

Natsuki ground her teeth together. "So... what is it?" she asked after they were gone. "What is so bad you couldn't say in front of the others?"

Fumi gave a pained smile. "Is it that obvious that I saved the hardest task for you two? It is only because I have the utmost trust in you both."

Nao rubbed her eyes, feeling the moisture in them that had slowly been building over the course of the conversation, and ground it out of existence with the palm of her hand. Fumi seemed awfully quick to forgive her unprompted attack last night. "Gee, thanks."

"You both remember Sister Yukariko, correct?" They nodded. "She left the Sisterhood after becoming pregnant with Ishigami-sensei's child, as you know. What might not know is that she had a miscarriage. We think it was because of the events of the Festival, truthfully. Mashiro-sama tried her best to repair the damage to the embryo, but..." Fumi folded her hands, uncomfortable. "Afterwards, she asked for my help relocating to a location far away from Japan. She was fleeing from Ishigami, and from her own memories, I think. I helped her to move to Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic. They have a covenant there for Sisters who have fallen from their status, and trying to recover."

Natsuki scratched her neck awkwardly. "And you want us to go get her? Why is that the hardest task?"

"When I called them, they told me she's been missing for a week. I need you two to find her."

Nao snorted. "What if she's dead?"

"Then she is dead. But I hope, for all of our sakes, that isn't true. The solutions to our problems become more difficult if all of the Hime are not alive. The more we must modify the threads of Mashiro's spell, the longer it will take to devise a solution." The pink haired headmaster walked over to a large cabinet, unlocking it with a silver key. She withdrew a pair of pistols, holding them out at arms length.

Natsuki recoiled. "What the hell? Why do you have guns? They're illegal... aren't they?"

"No, just very highly restricted." Fumi said, her voice soft. "There is one here for each of you, a few spare clips, and a box of cartridges each. I pray that you will not need to use them, but..."

The raven haired girl shook her head. "You _just_ said that you didn't think there was any immediate danger. Now you're giving us guns?"

The redhead ignored her, taking the proffered gun casually, but immediately checked the side. "Good, the safety is on."

Natsuki stared at her. "You know what you're doing?"

She pursed her lips, squinting down the grooved sight with her good eye as she aimed at something across the room. "I'm partial to a good action movie every once in a while." She smiled, looking back at Natsuki, pushing the pistol into the back of the waistband of her pants. "Besides, its just like you said. We're going to do whatever it takes to get Mama back. If that means running after Sister, then so be it. And if it means shooting at some bad guys, so be it." She smirked. "I'd think you'd be a good shot anyway, with all your practice back in the Festival."

Natsuki looked uncomfortable, but took her gun as well. "It's not a matter of that. I just thought we were done with things like this."

Fumi's head drooped. "Fate isn't done with any of us, it seems."

"No..." Natsuki said mournfully, running her fingers down the textured grip of her pistol. "No its not."


	6. Ties Interweaving

Sorry for the insanely long delay on this chapter. I'm in the process of going back through the story (mostly the older Shades stuff) and adding to it and editing it. My homepage link goes to a full collection of both of the stories with all the edits, for your reading pleasure (currently under construction, but up soon). This chapter is something of a cliffhanger, so hopefully the next one will come quickly. Reviews always help.

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The sun was fully over the horizon before Shiho had made it back to her dormitory. She pulled an envelope down from where it was taped on the entrance to her room. Her name was written on the front in a careful script. She considered it carefully, looking around. The dorm around her was beginning to wake; a girl two years her junior wandered sleepily past her, towards the cafeteria for breakfast. After she was gone, Shiho ripped the envelope open. Inside was a plane ticket, as well as directions to the resort Yukino and Haruka were staying at and 15,000 yen roughly 125 US dollars for assorted costs. Fumi, or one of her assistants, had been busy.

But the free money did little to assuage her anger. It was so unfair that those two were going to see Yuuichi-nii-chan while she was off to see two girls she barely knew. She brooded silently, glaring at another underclassmen girl wandering by, who yawned at her in response. She wanted to lash out at the girl's back after she passed, but didn't. Brooding was what she did best... she had a lot of practice.

She entered her dark room, scowing at the directions and seething. The sun may have had risen while she was underground listening to Fumi drone on, but she had the blinds on her window drawn tightly shut, so the room was left mostly black. She was so engrossed in her own emotions that it took her a long moment to realize that she wasn't alone in her room. In the dark, a form sat in a chair facing her. Two braids of ebony framed a shadowed face, emphasizing the liquid yellow eyes which shone in the darkness like embers.

Shiho tried to say something, but her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed to try and tried to recover her breath, and the figure just sat and waited. Finally, she managed to speak. "Mi... Mikoto?" she ventured.

The girl in front of her shifted, and a gentle metallic scraping sound reached her ears. She raised her arms, revealing an object the darkness had hidden until now. It was her signature claymore, the massive sword that the girl had slain Yatagarasu with back during the Festival. Mikoto put both hands around the handle, and stood the sword up straight, propping her chin against the hilt as those unblinking orbs regarded Shiho in silence.

The octopus-haired girl tried to think. She hadn't seen Mikoto in nearly a year and a half. The feral girl had dropped out of school a few weeks into her senior year, once Mai had graduated. Without Mai, there was little to keep her there, it seemed. She and Mikoto had never gotten along very well, true, but she didn't think she'd offended Mikoto enough for something like _this _to occur. She had been smart enough to keep most of her homicidal intentions towards Mai to herself, after all. She forced herself to speak, although her voice was a squeak instead of the strong demand she had intended. "Are you here to kill me?"

"No." Mikoto replied succinctly. "I'm here because... I want to make a deal with you."

"Oh." Shiho said, trying to keep the relief out of her voice. "What kind of deal?" Shiho asked carefully.

"How does breaking up Yuuichi and Mai sound?"

Shiho stared at her for a long moment before allowing an evil smile to creep on to her face.

-----

Natsuki listened to the deep thrumming of the jet engines just outside the small plastic porthole. It was a strange feeling, to be hurtling through the clouds at three hundred miles per hour, twenty thousand feet above the ground. Natsuki rarely went on airplane trips, and now she was on her second one in as many days. This one was much longer, but at least she wasn't alone this time. She and Nao were together on the Fuuka Academy's private jet, with only the pilots to keep them company. Even Nao had been asleep for most of the trip so far. She gently scratched Nao's head, who was curled up over the other two seats and using her lap as a pillow. The redhead was sleeping fitfully, making occasional jerks and sounds as she fought off what Natsuki could only assume were bad dreams. A gentle kiss or scratching her neck was enough to make her calm for a while, but if Natsuki stopped for even a moment, she would start up again.

The older girl looked mournfully down at the redhead as her chest rose and fell in sleep. She and Nao had always been different than other couples that they had met, for more reasons than just being the same gender. They had never gone through a puppy love phase, they never sent each others flowers, and they weren't prone to kissing in public. Nao had a romantic side to her, but she preferred to keep it private, which was more than fine with Natsuki. They had heard other couples talk about how they could read each others minds, constantly complete each others sentences. She and Nao had never been like that either, and it was doubtful they ever would. She had a deep connection with Nao, but long ago she had resigned herself to never truly _understanding_ her. She loved and respected the younger girl, but Nao would always remain a mystery.

It was at times like this, though, that Natsuki desperately wished she could peer into the younger girl's mind. There had been so much trauma recently; Kaori's relapse, her own harsh words at Nao for running away, and the revelations that Fumi had given them... it was enough to make a person start to lose their sanity. They had apologized to one another after the fight, and the make up sex had been incredible, but Natsuki couldn't help but wonder if Nao was really coping yet. If left to her own devices, the redhead would bottle up all of her feelings and compress them until she exploded. It was usually left to Natsuki to pry those feels from her and give her a more gentle release, to keep her sane. She tussled the mussed red hair, contemplating.

As if on cue, Nao opened her eyes. "Good morning." she said with a crooked smile, staring into Natsuki's expression.

"Morning?" Natsuki smiled back. "Well, who knows. Maybe in the part of the world that we're flying over, its morning. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

Nao made no move to get up, preferring instead to snuggle her head more deeply into Natsuki's lap. "Have you slept at all?"

"Not really. I don't sleep well on planes. How about you? Did you have sweet dreams?"

Nao grimaced in response. "Was it that obvious?"

"You twitch a lot when you're having nightmares." Natsuki grinned, masking her concern.

There was a long sigh from the redhead. "I... I keep thinking about Mama."

Natsuki considered her response. "I know. That's why we're traveling... in order to help Fumi help her, the only way we _can_ help."

The younger girl's eyes narrowed. "Don't talk to me like I'm some child in need of comforting. I know exactly why we're traveling. Its to go track down _Sister _Yukariko and haul her back to Japan." Nao spit the word 'Sister' like it was a poison. The two of them had never really gotten along very well, owing to some bad blood that had developed during Nao's extremely short stint as a nun herself.

Natsuki kept her mouth shut, choking back her good intentions. Anything else that she said now would only inflame the redhead, so she just let Nao's temper run its course. The redhead wrinkled her nose, thinking about the past and grimacing.

After a long moment, she relaxed back into Natsuki's lap, her expression almost pensive. "So why do you think Fumi gave us guns and no one else?" The change in subject was offered almost as if it were an apology.

"Well, we're going into a country where they aren't so highly restricted..." Natsuki observed. "Plus our job is likely to last the longest, so we're in the greatest danger."

"Plus, Shiho is going on a commercial flight, so she'll be getting searched..." Nao considered, helping to answer her own question.

"And really, would you trust that girl with anything more deadly than a butter knife?" Natsuki grinned.

The joke provoked a small smile out of Nao, but then she shivered, showing a rare moment of vulnerability. She slipped back to the topic occupying her thoughts. "It's all still like a dream, you know? I'm still half convinced that if I were to go home, Mama would just there waiting for me at the airport with a big smile and say 'Welcome home, Nao-chan!'. It's hard to believe that she's really..."

It was hard for Natsuki to watch so much pain. She was an 'action' sort of person, and being stuck here on the airplane, waiting to be able to do anything, was difficult. She leaned down, pressing her lips against the redhead's. They stayed connected, pressing against each other as they kissed, their movements slow and sensual. Finally, Natsuki broke off to taking a deep breath, keeping her forehead pressed against Nao's. "That's why we're traveling. To save..."

"I know." Nao closed her eyes and gave Natsuki a quick peck back. "You sound like a broken record. I love it when you play the dashing prince, coming to kiss all my worries away..." The sarcasm dripping off her voice would have been enough to turn the statement into an insult for anyone else, but a small tugging at the corners of her mouth let Natsuki know the statement was wrapped in a grain of truth. "But I'll be okay. I promise."

"Good. I'm holding you to that." Natsuki returned evenly, her heart warm. They stayed resting against each other for a long moment.

Nao eventually grew restless. "Now..." the redhead looked around conspiratorially. "I want to join the Mile High Club. Come on."

Natsuki blushed deeply, her breath catching in her chest. "Wait, what? No, wai..."

But Nao was already on her feet, dragging her towards the restroom. "Scardy cat..." she winked.

And it didn't take much convincing before Natsuki's objections faded away.

-----

It was the second to last church on her list for the day: an stone abandoned building on the outskirts of southern Prague. She and Nao had been searching churches for nearly two days now, hoping that their one and only lead from Fumi would pay off. Unfortunately, Prague was filled with churches, those both frequently used and well kept, and others left to die like this one, so there was nothing to do but keep searching. At first, they had stayed together, but after a few hours on the first day, they had split up to make the searching go faster. It was a lonely and thankless task, and it had frayed Natsuki's nerves to their extremes.

This church was no different than the previous three, except maybe in the depth of its disrepair. The stone floor was slick with water which dripped from the leaky roof like a faucet because of the recent rains, and a greenish sheen of mold covered half of the surface of the rotting wooden pews. The air was laden with the scent of decomposition. Natsuki walked down the dank rows of seats, holding her sleeve up over her mouth. _'Ugh. Is this really a place that Yukariko would hide in? She would have to be pretty desperate...'_

The waning red sun, burning its way below the horizon, painted crimson streaks through the shattered stained glass windows. The lead framing for the patterns was mostly intact, but rocks or storms had taken out all but the smallest sections of colored glass. The fragments that lay amongst the ruins of pews and the gutted alter cracked under her feet as she walked, making her wince at the noise. Everything of value seemed to have been pulled out of the place of worship... even the handles had been ripped off the doors. Keeping her footfalls soft as to not make noise, she make a quick circuit around the confessionals and what looked like a small living quarters for a priest. Again, anything and everything had been taken, leaving only debris sodden by the recent rain. But there was no sign of recent human inhabitation... only shadows of the past.

Only one door was left that was unexplored, but it lead to a dark staircase down. It wasn't terribly a inviting entryway. Still, if she left it unexplored, then what was the purpose of this whole search? No point in dragging themselves around to all the churches in this god forsaken city, if they didn't intend to ensure Yukariko wasn't in each one before moving on. With a sigh, she descended into the clammy darkness. Her feet slid on the moist stone, and she nearly tumbled down the stairs, but she caught herself again on a rusty metal protrusion on the wall. It had once been a fixture for a candle, but now there was only a thin layer of melted wax running down over the corroded lip. She took her hand off, brushing away the brown metal fragments, checking if the sharp edges broke the skin. In the dim light afforded by the doorway, she couldn't see any blood, so she continued down the stairs.

The room looked to be a storage area of some sort, though it hadn't been in use more recently than the rest of the church. Rotting barrels and white canvas sacks stood about, stacked in long rows. She made her way down the row, searching for something suspicious that might indicate Yukariko had been here recently.

Her pocket vibrated violently, and she nearly fell backwards, her heart hammering in her chest from the shock. She scrambled, trying to pry her cellphone out before it began to ring, but a few notes of the default ring tone escaped into the previously silent air. She leaned against the wall, panting, cupping the phone in her lowered hands, listening for a reaction within the building. There was nothing but the slow steady drip of water above her.

She glared down at the phone angrily. It was a gift from Fumi, identical to the one Nao had as well, courtesy of Fuuka Gakuen. They were going to need a way to keep in contact with each other, the Director had noted, and both of them had left their phones in their apartment in Hokkaido. The small, sleek black surface of the phone was impassive before her glare.

To her knowledge, only two people in the world knew this number: Nao, and Fumi. Considering her familiarity with both of them, and the bad timing of the call, she decided to forgo a traditional greeting in favor of a disgruntled "What?" whispered into the speaker.

"Ara... did I catch Natsuki-chan at a bad time?"

"Shi... Shizuru?" Natsuki gasped, catching herself before her volume rose too loud. "How do you know this number?"

"You thought you could escape me by traveling halfway around the world?" the Kyoto born woman asked airily before explaining. "Fumi gave me your number, as well as plane tickets in, so I could help in the search."

"Oh. Then... you've heard about Kaori."

"Since before you did, if I understand the sequence of events correctly, Natsuki-chan. You do remember I came to Hokkaido to visit her, right? Unfortunately, I loaned my plane to you, so I was stranded. I stayed with Kaori's sleeping form for more than a day. Speaking of which..." Natsuki could hear the smile in her voice. "I have some good news for you. Nao-san will be overjoyed."

Natsuki's voice caught with hope. "Kaori is going to be okay?"

"Better. Midori and Fumi already managed to figure out a way to fix the magic temporarily, at least for specific people. Kaori is already awake at Fuuka, waiting for us to finish finding Yukariko. I'll explain in more detail when we meet."

"You're already here?" Natsuki asked, her head spinning.

"I just arrived in Prague a few minutes ago, and I'm still picking up my luggage." Shizuru's voice was lighthearted. "Why don't you let me know where I can find you?"

"Okay." Natsuki pulled her map out of her pocket, folding it out onto the stairs, where there was enough light to read. "Um..." She struggled to remember how to pronounce the foreign letters. "It's a small church, on the west side of the Vltava river. It's called the Frantisek Palacky Building. Just say that to a cab driver and you'll end up here."

Shizuru repeated Natsuki's approximation of the unfamiliar words. "I'll see you soon then. You might want to call Nao and have her join us as well. I wouldn't want her feeling jealous at us being alone..." she teased.

Natsuki heard glass crunch above. She shushed Shizuru with a sharp noise, and pulled the map up off the stone stairs, drawing back into the shadows.

"Natsuki?" The humor was instantly gone from Shizuru's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Shhh!" The raven haired girl cut her off more harshly, while trying to remain quiet. "Someone's here..." she whispered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Shizuru said, but stayed on the phone, keeping the line active.

A feminine silhouette appeared in the door above, walking down the steps slowly. The setting red sun bathed around her darkened form like a halo, giving her a menacing look. A pair of crimson eyes shone from the silhouette, searching the storeroom with an unnatural glow.

Natsuki stayed in her hiding place, uncertain of what to make of this new development. There was an aura of danger from the unknown person, a level of menace that frightened Natsuki. She resolved to leave, not wanting to get into a fight without understanding the circumstances behind what was going on. She knew the figure looked familiar, but in the low light, she couldn't tell who it was. The figure fortunately turned away from her position, slow steady footsteps receding down opposite side of the the storeroom's length. When Natsuki was certain she was at a safe distance, she sprinted from her spot, climbing the stairs three at a time and running towards the door.

She hadn't made it much farther past the top of the steps before the figure slammed into her back, taking her off her feet and knocking the cellphone from her hands, sending it skittering across the wet stone floor. Natsuki turned to face her attacker in the above ground light.

The face of Miyu, android and creation of Father Glear, returned a hard glance. _At least that explains how she closed the gap between us so fast... damn girl is fast enough to cut bullets in mid flight. _More thoughts and questions spiraled through Natsuki's mind, but fighting instincts had already kicked in, letting her fight with a clear mind. She kicked up, dodging a blow that shattered stone floor below her, and smashed her elbow into Miyu's face. The blow would have fell a real person, but Miyu didn't seem phased beyond staggering backwards a bit.

They exchanged a few more blows, with Natsuki managing to deflect the worst of Miyu's strikes, before they tumbled and fell together, rolling and hitting each other. Natsuki knew she was suffering the worse out of the two of them, since Miyu was incapable of feeling pain.

She tried to separate herself from the android to get her gun clear. She rose again, seeing the red eyed machine still lying on the ground, and drew the silver pistol from under her coat. When she fired the first shot, the bullet had barely left the barrel before Miyu was up, seeming to blur through the air, dodging and smashed into Natsuki. The gun clattered to the side, and Natsuki felt herself being dragged and thrown, tossed as though she were a rag doll. She collided heavily against the wooden pews, and the rotten wood exploded and gave way under the force of her impact. The next row back cracked as well, but held.

She lay along the length of the seat, covered in water and splinters, her body in pain, trying to clear her ringing head. Miyu grabbed her by the front of her shirt, picking her up and pressing her against the stone wall, holding her aloft. "Answer my questions, and I'll let you live." she stated evenly.

Natsuki coughed, savagely kicking the android in the knee several times, but when Miyu didn't even appear to feel the impacts, she decided to save her energy. "What?"

"Someone has discovered a way to recreate the bonds between Valkyrie and the Suishou no Hime. How are they doing it?" Miyu's red eyes glowed.

Natsuki shook her head with a smile. _Is that what Shizuru was talking about? Whatever Midori and Fumi discovered pissed off someone pretty powerful... _But out loud, she said something different. "I don't know what you're talking about. But even if I did, do you really think I'd tell you?"

"Wrong answer." Miyu said dispassionately. "I'm afraid I have no choice... if you won't answer me, I'll have to get answers from the other Valkyrie here in this city."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsuki scowled.

"You think I don't know? The Valkyrie Yuuki Nao traveled with you here. Her well being is important to you, is it not? Perhaps you'll be more willing to give answers if it's _her_ life that will be ended if your answers are not satisfactory."

Natsuki's mind flared white, the threat against Nao creating a surge of fury within her like nothing she had experienced in a long time burning away all other thoughts. She wedged her knee up against Miyu's chest and kicked outwards with all her strength, sending the indomitable android stumbling backwards. Without stopping to think, she landed on her feet, rushed forward and grabbed the still flailing manufactured girl's arm, and twisted.

Time slowed, like a single moment when everything becomes clear. The emotions overflowing out of Natsuki's mind became a nearly tangible force, fueling the rebirth of something inside her long buried. She heard a sharp sound, almost like a chime, and a flash of light burst from her chest. Power surged out from her like a living wave, searing everything near them.

Ignoring everything, Natsuki pulled with all of her might, feeling the resistance of Miyu's arm. On some level, she knew that this single moment in time was lasting for much longer than it should have, but she was lost in her efforts, pushing herself beyond her limits. She felt the arm slowly give way, individual cables and joints snapping, and with a final horrid wrenching sensation, time itself restarted.

Miyu was hurled by the momentum into the wall which Natsuki herself had been pressed against a moment ago, her red eyes wide with surprise. Her arm was torn off at the shoulder, and the gaping hole where it had once been joined to her body was pulsing golden fluids like a lifeblood. Those crimson eyes dimmed, turning black, and the blue haired figure slumped down and collapsed.

Natsuki was still holding the severed arm. She sat heavily on an unbroken pew, her breath heaving. She blinked sweat out of her eyes from the fight, still struggling to comprehend what had happened. That single moment, when time had frozen... it had felt familiar, just the same as when she had first awoken as a HiME. The implications sickened her.

She stood unsteadily, wiping away the sweat from her forehead. She walked over to Miyu's fallen body, where it lay twitching with darkened eyes. Then she looked down at the arm, the pale faux skin still imprinted with deep grooves, marks from where her fingers had clamped down as she had pulled. It made subtle clicking and whirring noises, searching for signals that were no longer coming. Natsuki felt like vomiting.

The hand jerked upwards, clamping around her throat.

It took a moment to register for Natsuki, but when it did, she recoiled backwards, stumbling and tripping over the destroyed pews behind her. She fell heavily onto her side, feeling splinters of wood stab into her side. She opened her mouth to shout, but the hand was closing off her windpipe, crushing her throat. She tried to wedge her fingers under the fingers choking off her air, but the grip was too tight. She began to panic, clawing at the severed limb's fingers, but no precious oxygen could reach her.

Reactivating, Miyu rose unsteadily, her red eyes wavering. "I had not realized you retained your powers, Valkyrie. I underestimated you." She walked past Natsuki, casually shoving her down against the stone again with her good arm before retrieving the cellphone from where it lay in the isle.

Natsuki lay sitting at the foot of the wall, her vision quickly dimming from the lack of air. Miyu stood over her with a blank expression, holding the cellphone, watching her struggles. The raven haired girl could make out Shizuru's frantic yells over the still active connection, just before the call ended.

Miyu dialed a long series of numbers, holding the phone up to her ear. "Reporting in." she stated mechanically. "This one refused to tell me anything. Also, it seems the Valkyrie's powers are returning. You should move quickly, if you intend for your plans to succeed." Miyu listened to the voice on the other end, and her facial expression twitched. "But..." She was cut off by a sharp reprimand from the other side of the phone. "Very well. I require hearing Ojou-sama's voice before that feature can be unlocked." There was a long silence, presumably while the person giving the orders gave the phone over to Arisa. Finally, Miyu smiled slightly. "Understood, Ojou-sama. Option Seventeen unlocked." She hesitated. "I hope they are treating you well." She nodded at the response. "Good. We'll be back home as soon as I can manage it. " Miyu ended her call, dropping the phone to the floor.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Miyu didn't display emotions. If by nature or design, over the years she had manifested subtle approximations of certain human expressions. And at this moment, she looked apprehensive, perhaps even remorseful. Natsuki could barely see her face, through the haze of suffocation. "I... regret that this has come to pass." Miyu intoned. The severed hand released its pressure around her throat, allowing her to try and suck oxygen into her lungs. But her throat was damaged from the crushing grip, and every breath was an agony, the pain burning at her.

Miyu knelt next to Natsuki's slumped form, ignoring her choking noises, talking to her with a quiet voice. "Memory is a precious thing. The Valkyrie known as Midori allowed me to keep mine and continue to protect Ojou-sama, when she could have destroyed it and made me into a mindless tool. For this gift, I will forever be in the Valkyrie's debt." She bowed her head. "But I cannot violate the orders given to me." Miyu tilted her head oddly. "Perhaps if you could give me the answers I seek?"

Natsuki's world was a haze of pain, and she was still struggling to stay conscious. _'I told you already. Even if I knew, I wouldn't do it...' _she wanted to say defiantly, but instead she only sucked in another breath with difficulty. Each gasp of air down her damaged windpipe was a searing blade. She felt hot tears on her cheeks, uncontrollably released from the lancing pain.

"I see. I have damaged you beyond the ability to communicate. Then... this is the only way." Miyu's good arm shifted and morphed, transforming into a long set of intertwining spirals of metal, drawing together into a single point. The spirals began to glow with golden energy, pulsing with a dangerous light. The android bowed her head, bringing the new apparatus to bear. "There will be no pain." she said dully, her eyes narrowed.

Natsuki tried to shrink back away from the burrowing lances of energy, but the ephemeral tendrils wrapped themselves around her head, holding her still. They snaked around her tighter and tighter, the golden energy seeped into her skin, feeling like a thousand tiny worms as it worked its way down. And as it poured into her mind, she began to scream.

-----

Nao was ready to murder someone. Natsuki had been late for their rendezvous, and wasn't picking up her phone. Something was wrong... something had happened. The worst part was, Nao had no way to respond. She didn't know what to do. She had checked the last few churches that Natsuki was supposed to check out, but there was nothing. Now Nao was pacing around in an alleyway, in the recently restarted torrential rains coming from the darkened sky, trying to decide what to do.

"Good evening, Princess Nao."

Nao drew her gun out of her coat in a fluid motion, pointed directly at the face of the person who had entered her alley. She stared at him, his long nose and rain-matted blond hair looking just as out of place here as she did. "Who the hell are you?"

He laughed, a long hearty chuckle. His bodyguards, two men in long trench coats with darkened glasses, both tensed at the sight of her gun, but he waved them both off, and they retreated out to the street, leaving the two of them alone. He smiled at her, although the expression was more disturbing than anything else. "My name is John Smith... and I'm not someone you need to be pointing that gun at. I've come here to help you, Princess Nao."

His words didn't encourage her to lower her gun even a millimeter. "Why are you calling me that?"

"Because that's what you are, are you not? A princess of the Red Star?" He spread his empty hands before him.

She narrowed her eyes, looking at him carefully down the rain splattered sight of her gun with her one good eye. "How do you know that?"

"I know a great deal of things. I know who your friends are, who your enemies are... better than you do."

She smirked. "I'll be the judge of that. Who do you think my friends are?"

"Myself, for one. I can offer you and your fellow Princesses an alternative to simply dancing on the Obsidian Lord's strings once again, if only you have the courage to embrace it this time." His voice was haughty. "You're also friends with Princess Natsuki, are you not?"

"You might say that..." she allowed.

"She is in grave danger."

Nao tensed at these words, and she clicked off the safety to her gun, pushing it forward menacingly. "If you're threatening her..."

He held his hands up innocently, his lips curling up with disgusting relish. "I am not the one who causes this danger. It's the fault of another, I'm afraid. I propose... a trade of information."

"I've got another proposition for you." Nao spat at him. "How about you tell me where Natsuki is, and I don't kill you right here and now"

John Smith looked unperturbed. "I'm the only one who knows where your Natsuki is, and if you don't mind me observing... time is of the essence here."

Nao bit her lip, feeling the rain sluice down her skin and sog her hair. "Fine. What's your question."

He looked at her evenly. "How did Director Fumi manage to reassert the bonds between the Crystal Princess and the rest of the Princesses?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about." she answered honestly.

He regarded her with an inquisitive look, and then finally nodded. "That is unfortunate. But I will uphold my end of the bargain." He began to withdraw his hand from his pocket, causing Nao to tense her grip on the trigger, but he proffered the envelope as a gesture of peace. "Inside you will find an address of a hotel not too far from here, as well as a key to the room they are in."

Nao snatched it from his hands, glancing at it. "They? Who's with her."

He grinned. "Princess Fujino Shizuru."

The redhead looked at him long and hard. "What the hell would Shizuru be doing here? She's back in Japan, and probably doesn't even know what's going on."

He was enjoying this, she realized as he spoke to her. "I'm afraid that's why I say I know who your enemies are better than you do."

Nao sucked in her breath, but let it out slowly. "I know what game you're playing, and its not going to work. Shizuru and I certainly have our differences, but its been a long time since the Festival. We've learned to deal with each other, and I don't count her as an enemy anymore." She left out her feelings about Shizuru's relationship with her mother, not wanting to put those to air with a stranger, or out loud at all, really. "And if there's one thing I believe, its that she would never let anyone harm Natsuki. So go try and sew your seeds of distrust somewhere else, John Smith."

He laughed. "You sound so certain, little Princess. What if I told you that she had made a deal with some very powerful people to lead Natsuki into a trap? One that would end with her memory being wiped. And even now, Shizuru is rewriting history with her long lost love."

Nao stared, uncertain of how to respond. "Shizuru... she's over that."

John Smith lowered his eyes, his expression intense. "Love is never something that is gotten over, I'm afraid. That's just human nature. And if you don't want to lose everything, you'll need to go point that gun at someone else, and make things right."

Nao lowered her gun slowly, her mind whirling with possibilities and terror. She wanted to think that Shizuru would never do anything like that, but... what if he was right?

"Don't take my word for it. Go and see, Princess Nao. The address is in the envelope." He turned and walked away, waving her goodbye casually as he left.

She stood in the pouring rain for a long time, not even noticing the drenching sheets of water. She unfolded the envelope, recognizing the street from her traversals of the city before. It was a close, a building she remembered passing. Lower and lower her mind spiraled, warring with itself, until something snapped. She had to know. Her hand tightening against the grip of the gun, and she broke into a dead run.


End file.
